The World, 10 Generations Later
by Romanesque-Marionette
Summary: -Reupload- If the 20th Vongola Boss will be anything like the 10th, that means there'll be a long way to go tutoring her. Now just imagine the worst possible tutor you could pair with such a scaredy-cat girl...
1. Target 1

A/N: My main concerns with this fanfic are whether or not the OCs are potentially Mary-Suish, and if the canon cast (of what few could return, this being years into the future after all) are suitably IC. Okay, thanks for that, oh and before Chapter 3 comes up I'd also be interested in any guesses as to which Ring will go to which character.

**+ Target 1 +**

A constant barrage of noise from the latest and greatest in modern technology sounded all across the city of Mirinamo that one morning, the whooshing and zipping of hovercars blazing their way over fluorescent highways, streams of advertisements and news reports broadcasted by electronic displays, the blinking and buzzing of headphones and mobile phones (sometimes both out of the same accessory)… and if you were in a close enough vicinity to her, the sound of one girl frantically writing on her digital workbook as she ran towards the school gates.

Nami Araoka puffed and panted as she dashed across the front courtyard of Mirinamo High, writing and running at the same time due to a ton of homework she was still intent on finishing even at such a late hour, only stopping to catch her breath as she reached the stone steps that lead up to her school.

"Okay," Nami gasped for air, tugging on her school hat out of an unusual habit she'd developed "just have to answer this last one and it'll all be-" she began to say as she kept writing away with her stylus, only to hear a sudden voice from behind her, which seemed to be getting closer and closer.

"Yo, gangway!" a girl called out speeding straight in on a hoverboard that she looked clearly ill-suited to. She flailed her arms wildly around in the air in a desperate attempt to gain balance, which ultimately proved futile as she then crashed straight into Nami.

With a shriek both girls were knocked to the ground, the hoverboard girl at least having the advantage of the kneepads and helmet she wore, not to mention having Nami to land on. As the less fortunate girl, Nami struggled to move her face up off the ground, yet was only greeted by the sight of her electronic notepad in broken pieces in front of her.

"Haha, sorry about that!" the hoverboard girl said as she pushed herself upright. Nami turned her head and saw this person had bright red hair tied in twin braids, slightly tan skin and was wearing heaps of hoverboard gear along with her school uniform. "Hi there, name's Kotone, I'm a first-year student here too! Oh, your notepad…" Kotone's cheerful expression beginning to fade as she saw what a wreck she'd made of Nami's homework.

Nami tugged her hat and stood up again, in great contrast to Kotone her hair was black and only came down to her shoulders, though a large swathe of it covered her right eye, and she wore her school uniform in its intended fashion. Said school uniform (for the first years anyway) consisted of a black cap with two light blue chords attached to it, a black coat and skirt with a grey shirt, and long boots coming up to the mid-thigh region. Her face was also dotted with freckles, and had mostly dark eyes unlike Kotone's beaming yellow ones. Nami's only other notable feature was an _ahoge_, a random curl springing up from her otherwise straight hair.

Another area the two girls differed in - "Aah, no I'm, what I mean to say is, my notepad is, er, um… I really have to get to class, er, bye" Nami said with a nervous and somewhat intimidated expression as she hurriedly scooped up the remains of her workbook and scampered towards the main entrance - was personality.

"Wow, that really could've gone better" Kotone muttered seeing Nami run off and began to look downcast, but then quickly changed her tone back to normal with "I know, the moment class breaks I'm gonna find her and make it all up to her! Oh, but what could I possibly…" she began to ponder.

* * *

><p>'The moment class breaks' wasn't exactly lived up to, as it was now afternoon with classes all over for the day, with only club activities still keeping students anchored to the school. For Nami, not having to see that weird redhead girl who had all so quickly ran into her was a relief, though right now she had no time to relax as she was busy with her work for the Student Council, racing rapidly around the empty room she was in trying to complete a whole series of tasks assigned to her.<p>

Keyword there being 'trying'. Though she put in as much effort as she could something like a spider at the corner of the ceiling or a strange shadow appearing on the floor would always cause her to jump, typically scattering any papers or files she was holding and making her start whatever she was doing all over again. But at least she wasn't where anyone could just come up to her and…

"Yo, Nami right?" a worryingly familiar voice said, Nami jumping again as she noticed who was coming into this room. "Whew, spent all day trying to find you, didn't see you anywhere around the normal lunch area so I had to ask all sorts of people where you were" Kotone kept on going.

"Oh, well I normally eat lunch in the Council room, so that would explain why I wasn't outside. Erm, y-you were asking about me?" Nami responded, trying to not react too hastily yet at the same time slowly backing away from Kotone.

"Yeah, but just standard stuff like 'Have you heard about this girl?' or 'Do y'know anyone who looks like such and such'" Kotone said, before walking forward and giving the room a good look-around and saying "Whoa, Student Council eh? Pretty cool! …Only, why do they have you working in this random storage room? *gasp* No, they couldn't be trying to sift you out or something could they?".

"What? Oh, well" Nami said softly "…I wouldn't really to blame them if they were trying to, I'm the lowest-ranking member of the Council after all. I mean I try, I do want to be good, but my grades are just too low and they say I can be a real bother to people because… I sort of get startled too easily".

"Oh Nami, you don't," Kotone started off, before pausing and saying "Yeah, I guess you kinda got all jumpy back there, but if you say things like that, then you'll…" she tried to think of something further to say, something encouraging, but the words just didn't come to her.

It was then from outside the room that a loud noise came, sounding like something being made by several people. Nami just shrank back into a corner of the room, but Kotone edged closer towards the door to try and see whatever could be making it.

That proved to be a bad idea, as despite not being on her hoverboard Kotone was almost knocked off balance when a third girl swiftly made her way into the room. She had boyishly short blue hair, was taller than Nami and just an inch over Kotone in height. Her uniform however signified that she was at least two grades higher than both girls, well from what parts of her uniform could be seen beneath the distinctive white lab coat she wore over herself; she was even wearing a pair of glasses for full effect.

"Mind if I barge in here for a bit, my is it difficult to conduct science club when you have a whole load of boys clamouring after you" said the third-grade student, suggestively fanning herself with her hand as she walked inside, her boots rubbing against each other. Her voice, while still possessing a feminine chime to it, was quite deep and husky for someone still in high school, as opposed to Nami's shy and gentle tones or Kotone's grating pitch.

"Oh, you mean, you're the president of the science club. Wow, they say, er, they say you're-" Nami said as she slowly came out of her hiding spot, this being a person she recognised… if only from a few brief meetings she'd had with the Student Council President.

"Huh? You go on about 'a whole load of boys' like that's a bad thing" Kotone interjected.

"Hmhm, you're a rather perceptive little one aren't you?" the science president said brushing off Kotone and leaning closer towards Nami, bending down to feel her ahoge. "So cute as well" she giggled.

Nami began blushing, having no idea how to react in such a scene. Fortunately she didn't have to, as a quick *ahem* from Kotone managed to get the club president to turn around. "Well, I do suppose you have your own attractiveness too, though I wouldn't say of the same kind…" she said in response to Kotone.

_I don't think that's what she wanted to hear, _thought Nami.

"Oh but where are my manners, I don't believe I've introduced myself yet. Shiori Tsumura, Science Queen of Mirinamo, at one's service" she said bowing before the two girls "Hrm, 'Science Queen', do you think that really fits, couldn't something like 'Science Contessa', 'Science Duchess' or 'Lady of Science' work better? No, on second thoughts not 'Duchess', too reminiscent of a particularly unpleasant _Alice in Wonderland _character" Shiori continued.

"Okaaay, right then. Kotone Uetake, reporting for… something or other anyway" Kotone tried to go along with it.

"Nami Araoka" came the last reply, "Um, do you think the crowd outside would've died down by now?".

"Sure looks like it" Kotone called as she took a glance outside the door, "Hey, you realise it's kinda getting pretty late out here, any of you wanna start heading home or stuff?".

"Head home? Aw, I was hoping we could stay here just a while longer, you know to talk a little more, soak up the atmosphere a bit…" Shiori said as her hands began to wrap themselves around Nami's sides again.

"Ah, ah, well we can still talk a bit on the way home" Nami stuttered as she tried to spring out of Shiori's grasp "So, erm, where would you two happen to live?"

"Southwest District" Kotone said.

"Eastern Ward" Shiori replied.

_Ergh… _thought Nami "Well, the monorail I usually catch should be close by, maybe we could work our way out from there, ahah?" she continued nervously.

"Well why not, lead the way then young Nami" Shiori chimed back.

"Oh, but I'm faster. Look, this is my prized-" Kotone said as she began pulling out her whole hoverboard from out of her bag, but Shiori raised her voice in shock.

"Such an outdated model… and look at all the misaligned spheres and lighting damage and loose cords and-" the science club president kept going on as she swiped the board off Kotone and began fiddling around with all its internal and external mechanisms.

"Hey!" Kotone yelled out as she took the board back "It may be 'outdated' to you, but for me it's been my oldest, closest, most inseparable companion-"

_Even though you barely know how to ride it, _the thought immediately came to Nami's head.

"-So, so," Kotone said as she was trying to think of a retort to Shiori, before she settled for just sticking her tongue out at her.

"Huh, the only time someone's had their tongue out at me it's been to-" Shiori started off.

"Ah" Nami came forward and grabbed the two girls' sleeves "Let's get going everybody!" she said.

* * *

><p>The afternoon sun cast a warm orange glow across the rooftops of Mirinamo, the hi-tech metropolis was relatively quiet as high school students aimlessly made their way home all exhausted from club activities. Well, not completely quiet, one trio was still talking on a fair bit, or at least two of them were…<p>

"What, so you're saying you don't even like hoverboarding now?" Kotone said back.

"The sport itself doesn't personally interest me," Shiori clarified "but I can always tell when any machine is in poor shape or being obviously mistreated".

"M-mistreated?" Kotone exclaimed, but was cut off when Nami stepped in-between them, and her gaze softened.

"Oh sorry Nami. Ah I just remembered, 'bought this for you earlier" Kotone said as she pulled out a purple-wrapped package "Erm, it's a bit squished I guess, but basically it's my way of trying to make up for kinda smashing your things before".

Nami unwrapped the gift to find a rather smushed chocolate cake with the occasional pink heart decorations sprinkled over it. "Um, thanks Kotone" she said as she sat down on a nearby park bench, yet didn't start to eat the cake till she first examined it more closely.

Shiori couldn't help but giggle at the sight. "How cute," she said, yet turned to eye a nearby stall "But if you'll excuse me Kotone, I believe I can do better".

She went over and, after a few exchanged words with the man behind the counter, came back with a three-layer mud cake dusted with sugar, sweets, chocolate sauce and even a little cartoon snowman on top. The scientist smiled seeing Nami holding the cake in her hands.

_What? Since when did this become some sort of competition? Why didn't we just go straight home… _Nami thought "Er, thank you Miss Shiori, but I really don't think I could possibly eat all this-" she began.

"I could help feed it to you, if you'd like" Shiori whispered as she moved in closer. Nami could've flinched, Shiori did know she was already sixteen years old, right?

"Oh wow Shiori, that cake sure looks expensive, how much it did cost?" Kotone then said, her previous grudges against Shiori seemingly not showing up for now, though still timed exactly to distract the scientist from Nami.

"Barely a penny actually. The young man at the counter seemed to be quite eager to lower its original price, with a few words or so from moi anyway" Shiori replied. Hearing this explanation made Kotone's face freeze over.

However, the conversation was brought to an abrupt end when a large explosion came from out of nowhere, sending the cake stall Shiori had just been to sky high, the frightened owner scurrying away as fast as he could. From out of the sky a red bolt of what looked like fire fell down and caused a second blast, causing all three girls to jump back.

"Kotone, Nami, are you both alright?" Shiori said as she tried to call out over the large amounts of smoke both explosions had made.

"I'm more than alright!" Kotone's voice called back, and suddenly from out of the smoke she span around and cleared the area, already having pulled out her hoverboard and looking to strike back.

"Agh, Kotone, now isn't exactly a good time for that sort of thing" Shiori shouted out, but Kotone's determined expression didn't change one bit.

"No Shiori, whoever's attacking us me and trusty board are going to put a stop to them!" Kotone said as she sped off towards the direction of the attacks, spinning again rapidly to knock anyone out, hopefully not getting in the path of any potential bystanders.

"Kotone, you…" Shiori began, only to groan angrily before running in and saying "Right, I see, but in that case," from the folds of her lab coat she pulled one large liquid container with her right hand and three smaller vials with her left "I'm not going to let you fight alone, I'm going in with you!"

Nami meanwhile could only quiver at the explosions that were coming at her, particular explosions that were all too familiar to her. _Are these… those Flames? Like the strange lights eight years ago? _Dark thoughts and memories echoed throughout her mind, she was now desperately clutching her school hat. But when she dared to open her eyes if just for a second she could see Kotone and Shiori charging in ready to fight off whoever these mysterious attackers were.

"Wait, no, please don't! Please don't go!" Nami burst out.

Breaking through with her hoverboard, Kotone charged straight into one of the attackers, who seemed to have no distinguishing features other than the dark suit he wore, and completely bowled him over. Shiori meanwhile had already tossed one of her four potions at an enemy, the resulting chemical blast luckily managing to take out two of them instead of just the one.

Yet when all seemed to be going well for the girls, an unwelcome reminder that this was still the same Kotone who'd accidentally crashed into Nami came up. The redhead was now fumbling and beginning to lose her balance not long after she'd taken down her second enemy, and to make things worse another bolt of flame was headed straight at her whilst she was trying to regain control.

"Erena!" it was Nami who called out. Why that name of all things Shiori and Kotone had no idea whatsoever, but Nami had now jumped right in front of Kotone and was hit directly by the resulting explosion in her place. She now lay as a scorched mess on the pavement, barely able to keep her eyes open for all the dust and burn marks that covered her. Fortunately, yet perhaps suspiciously as well, as soon as they'd seen Nami take the full force of the blast the attackers then vanished just as suddenly as they'd appeared.

"Nami! Nami! Oh my god are you alright? Speak to me!" "Nami, can you hear me? Are you still conscious?" Kotone and Shiori responded immediately, the former trying her hardest to shake her awake while the latter scanned her body to check the severity of the damage she'd received.

"It's okay," Nami said, though you could tell how badly she saw struggling to talk "I'm-" she coughed "I'm fine".

"Kotone, help me pick her up" Shiori said "We have to get her home right away".

"Roger that".

* * *

><p>When Nami was able to wake up again she could see that she was right outside the door to the apartment where she lived with her mother and father. A door that looked to be at a rather odd angle, till she blinked and realised she was being carried by Shiori from her feet and by Kotone from her elbows.<p>

"Heheh, could you believe the elevator was out of order?" chuckled Kotone, trying to make light of the situation "Man Nami, it sure is a long way up to where you said your apartment was".

As the two girls tried to help Nami stand up again she didn't reply, her thoughts were still occupied on who could've attacked her friends and why, and if the powers they used were anything like…

"Thank you" Nami said at last as she reached forward to input her numbered code to her apartment, "But please, you don't have to do so much for someone like me, someone who-"

The instant the door shot open Nami was immediately interrupted by another figure coming straight at her. "Nijuudaime!" it called out as it attached itself to her face. After struggling to get it off Nami held it out in front of her to see it was a young boy of no older than three, with silver hair tied back in a short ponytail, wearing a series of bandages beneath a blue jacket, having a series of belts covering his black trousers and a bright red crystal-like object below his neck.

"Oh wow, he looks cool!" Kotone piped in.

"…What in the world?" Shiori muttered.

"Ah Nijuudaime, you were so great back there. I know because I saw you, as you valiantly stepped forth to risk your own life for your subordinate. From that moment I knew you were truly made of Vongola Boss material!" the boy kept going on.

"Twentieth? Subordinate? Vongola Boss? W-what are you talking about? Where did you come from?" Nami panicked.

"Oh, of course Nijuudaime! I'm Hayato Gokudera, right-hand man of the… oh wait. Er, I'm the Neo Arcobaleno of Storm. We've already delivered the letter explaining things along with the Rings and your weapons to your room, but basically you're next-in-line to be Head of the Vongola Famiglia, and they've chosen me to be your home tutor" Gokudera told her.

"Famiglia? Wait a minute, you're here to tutor me… to become a Mafia Boss?" she exclaimed, quickly placing Hayato down and dashing over to see what was now in her room.

"Nijuudaime…" Gokudera tried to call to her, but Nami was already too far off. So he instead turned around to inspect the two girls she had brought with her. He automatically glared at Kotone "You, how dare you make Nijuudaime place her life in danger like that! What if she had been blown to pieces or burnt to ashes?" he yelled at her.

"Huh, didn't you just applaud Nami for taking that blow for me? And hey, I was the one trying to protect _her_ in the first place!" Kotone shot back.

Gokudera simply grumbled, yet formed no real reply, instead turning over to look at Shiori. "And you, look at what you did to Uri!" he said as he pulled out a miniature cat from out of his belt, who was currently covered in a large bluish-white stain.

"What, I did that?" Shiori questioned "But how could your 'cat' ever have been hit by one of the potions I threw?".

"Well it's because I was there at the time," Gokudera answered "After all, I'm the one who sent those people out to attack Nijuudaime in the first place, I even pitched in a few bombs myself. Eh heh, don't worry, it was all part of the training program, Nijuudaime or anyone else never would've been in any real danger!" he tried feebly to reassure them.

"WHAT?" both girls reacted.

"Then why were you going on before about how Nami could've been blown to ashes or whatever you said!" Kotone yelled back.

Again Gokudera hesitated, going through a series of erms, uhs and 'Nijuudaime's before Nami came back into the main room again, clutching the letter in her hands. Slowly, she began to read:

"_Dear Araoka Nami, or should I say __Vongola Ventesima__,_

_This letter, outdated yet formal, has been written to inform you of your true heritage, as the chosen Twentieth Head of the Vongola Famiglia._

_The Vongola are a vigilante society working within the world of the Mafia, our aim being to protect and aid the people where the law cannot. We are able to accomplish this through the use of our Dying Will, powerful Flame energy increased through our resolve and manifested through the Rings we carry._

_Within the case sent along with this letter you should find seven of our most treasured Rings. The one with the image of Sky that emits an orange flame is reserved for you alone. As for the rest, they are to be handed out by you to the people you trust the most and would want to be with you through thick and thin. But on those lines, once you give each Ring to your select few do note that you will be forever involving them in whatever may come your way._

_As I have received word that you have been brought up with no knowledge of the Vongola, I have sent one of our finest hitmen to tutor you in the ways of becoming a respectable Mafia Boss. I hope the two of you will be able to get along._

_Buona Fortuna, or Ganbatte if you'd rather,_

_Your cousin Ieshige Sawada, __Vongola Diciannovesimo__"_

Nami slowly dropped the letter to show that she was now wearing a ring and carrying twin sword-hilts. Slowly the ring began to glow, and as it did bursts of orange fire began to shoot out from the sword-hilts, forming the blades with their Flames. Kotone stumbled and jumped backwards to avoid her foot getting singed in the process.

"This is what he was talking about, these 'Dying Will Flames'? I may not have known of the Vongola, but I have seen these before. These are the exact same Flames that attacked me, my hometown and Erena eight years ago!" Nami said, her voice just as raging as her fire-composed swords.

"You two" she said again, directly addressing Kotone and Shiori "You knew about me all along, right? Are you Mafiose too, were you only ever being nice and doing all those things for me just because you knew I was this 'Ventesima' person?" she spoke rather accusingly to the ones who'd brought her to safety only minutes before.

Her Flames soon died down, and Nami's anger faded with them, only to then be replaced with uncontrollable sobbing as she ran back into her room, carelessly dropping the sword-hilts behind her.

"Nami, Nami wait!" Kotone called as she ran after her, leaving Shiori behind to stare back down at Gokudera.

"I'm assuming the Vongola don't just pick their successors out of thin air. You _knew _she'd react like this, am I correct 'home tutor'?" the science club president scowled.

"Well, yes, our intelligence agents did give us a pretty extensive report on her" Gokudera began. "But I went ahead anyway, I just wanted to see… this is going to be hard to explain. Basically some person I'd rather not talk of once called the Tenth Generation of the Vongola the second coming of the First, and I can sort of see where he was coming from. Following this logic, I wanted to see if Nijuudaime really was like the…"

Shiori slowly began to smile "Who's to say she still can't be?".


	2. Target 2

**+ Target 2 +**

_Nami Araoka, only just nine years old, was huddled in a corner of the new apartment her parents had ever so quickly moved into. An outsider would find it strange that the Araoka family, who had felt so uncomfortable in this world of constantly developing technology, would suddenly move into a newly built apartment in the middle of the ultra-modern Mirinamo City. But believe them, they had their reasons._

_Nami hadn't spoken to anyone in days. Was it due to the culture shock of moving from the country to the city all in the blink of an eye? No, she'd stopped talking long before that, ever since those strange fires had appeared over her old hometown, and so many people had…_

"_Hello" a new voice had said to her. Nami slowly looked upwards to see that it belonged to young man with light brown hair, several bandages across his face and orange-coloured eyes just like hers. He wore a dark-coloured business suit and seemed to have a sword sheathed at his side, though closer inspection showed that the sword was only a wooden one that didn't look like it could do any real damage._

"_You're Nami, aren't you?" he asked of her, "I'm your cousin, my name's Ieshige. I've heard about what happened to the village you used to live in. That's why I came to visit your family, to make sure you were all okay"._

_But like all these past days, no response came, if anything Nami only ducked further backwards despite the sincerity Ieshige was trying to convey. Her cousin bent down to look more closely at her, yet then stood up and walked away back towards the door._

_Before he left however, he whispered to himself "Her eyes shone with the very colour of… But if she truly is, then how am I to ever convince her to take such a role, after a tragedy like this?"_

_He was then overtaken by a loud coughing noise, but once it finally cleared up he did say one last thing back to her "Goodbye Nami. I hope we can meet again, in brighter circumstances"._

* * *

><p>In all the years that had passed since then Nami had never really given much thought back to that meeting, considering Ieshige to be nothing more than her creepy cousin her parents didn't bring up that much, whenever she even remembered him at all that is. Having just read that letter, seeing why they didn't talk about him was clearer to her than ever…<p>

The girl's room wasn't much to write home about, it seemed to be mostly empty; her bed, study desk and some cupboards being the only real furniture. Probably the most noteworthy thing about it was how neat and excessively spotless it all was, bed sheets tucked in, carpet sucked dry, though there were a few more unnerving touches like all the boxes stacked beneath her bed or the heavy latches on her cupboards.

"Nami!" Kotone called out as she ran over to the bed and leapt on her, saying things like "I'm sorry I made you mad! I didn't mean to, I…".

"Get off! Get off!" Nami said back as she squirmed to get out of Kotone's grip, which was no easy thing to do seeing how strong Kotone could be. It was only when Kotone stopped she calmed down and replied "No Kotone, don't feel bad for yourself. I mean, I was the one who took it all out on you and Shiori, saying you could be a-"

"A mafiosa?" Kotone finished for her, then grabbed her school hat and said in her best Sicilian accent (I.e. a really poor one) "Nice little hat you have here, would be a shame if anything were to 'happen' to it". She promptly chuckled and tightly hugged Nami again, saying "C'mon, do you really think I look like an underworld sort of girl?"

"Well, I don't know," Nami began "People say the Mafia go to pretty long lengths to disguise and conceal themselves in the eyes of the general public". She gulped, it was probably all the better that no one had mentioned the Mafia to her until now, the thought of any person on the street possibly being some criminal mastermind would've been too much for 'Scaredy-Cat' Nami to handle.

"Ah, well…" Kotone tried to say back. For some reason or another she appeared to be having difficulty answering that statement.

"So I see you're both sorted out now, are you?" Shiori said as she entered in "My, you're awfully close together, you two weren't going to go have any fun without me?"

Neither Nami nor Kotone made any vocal response to this, but judging solely from how much they were blushing they didn't really have to.

"Oh, so these would be the Rings that letter referred to" said Shiori again as she glanced at an open case Nami must've placed on her study desk. Sure enough in it were held six Rings, with an empty space in the centre from where Nami would've taken her Ring.

"Aaaiiee! Keep your filthy hands off them! Those Rings are Nijuudaime's alone to hand out!" Gokudera rushed in and blocked Shiori's sight of the case.

"I was just going to look" Shiori muttered to herself.

"Er, Gokudera, there's something I still don't understand," it was Nami who spoke "It's just, you don't exactly look like the sort of person some big Mafia family would hire because…"

"Oh right, I'm only sorry I could not address that sooner, Nijuudaime" Gokudera replied "I… wasn't always this height. They say being an Arcobaleno is the result of a curse, but to tell you the truth I actually volunteered to be this way, so that one day I could-"

Her tutor then swerved around "Are you two still here? This is an important discussion Nijuudaime and I are having, we would kindly appreciate no eavesdroppers!" he snapped at Shiori and Kotone.

Shiori hmphed and took Kotone by her shoulders "Fine then, 'us two' can easily amuse ourselves, can't we Kotone?".

The redhead sidestepped to move out of Shiori's reach, but then said "Yeah, 'course we can". The two began to exit the apartment, but Kotone managed to smile and yell out "See you soon, Nami!", waving as she left.

"Ah, thought they'd never leave" Gokudera said as he began to look more relaxed "You see, us Arcobaleno, or rather all but one of us, are basically immortals granted powers by Rings similar to the Vongola ones. Together, we form the top seven hitmen in the Mafia world."

"So really there's no one better you could ask to be your personal tutor!" he proudly exclaimed, before looking downcast and admitting "Although, I've only ever tutored one upcoming Mafia Boss once before…"

_Three-times bomb!_

_Storm Thunder Arrow!_

_Uri Cambio Forma!_

"…and they say he was never seen again" Gokudera finally finished.

_How is that supposed to be reassuring?_ Nami thought, likely sweatdropping "Er, you also were starting to say something like 'so one day I could-'?"

"What, oh no, that's -ah- nothing, f-forget I said that" her tutor tried to deflect that.

"Okay…" Nami muttered, before looking back down at the ring on her finger. It was clear to Gokudera that what had caused her outburst before was still on her mind.

"Ah, Nijuudaime, they told me that-"

"That eight years ago the country town I lived in was attacked and burnt to the ground, by someone who could wield Flames…" Nami began, before lighting up the orange spark on her Ring "just like this one".

"Our reports also said that, you were always really strong, brave and courageous as a child…" Gokudera said as tears started to well up in his eyes "But ever since the attack, you've become incredibly afraid of everything, you've been failing in school because your fears won't let you concentrate, and people always call you 'Scaredy-Cat Nami'. Nijuudaime!" he wailed out as he clutched onto Nami's arm, tears now falling everywhere.

"No, it's okay, it-it was a long time ago now, well to me anyway, right?" Nami said back "Though frankly, I still don't want to take these Rings, if they truly can create such destructive Flames".

Gokudera was uncharacteristically silent, but then began muttering to himself "What would Reborn-san do? What would Reborn-san do?".

His expression suddenly brightened, as he zoomed out of the room and back, now with a rubber duck on his head, two spoons behind his ears and wearing a saucepan. "Nami, anyone can possess the resolve to ignite the Dying Will. You can burn through your own way and not blaze the same path!" he loudly proclaimed.

"So you're saying, the Flames themselves aren't bad, just how people use them?" was the conclusion Nami came to.

"Er, yeah. Something like that, essentially! A…a most poignant proclamation from Nijuudaime!" Gokudera stuttered out.

"Besides, our reports also _also_ told that the colour of the Flames on that night were a bronze colour with a dark yellow centre. Don't worry Nijuudaime, that doesn't sound like any of the Flames the Vongola use" her tutor said. _"Well, not commonly…" _he whispered.

Though she may have smiled at Gokudera's words, doubts and uncertainties were still clouding around within Nami's head. _The letter said they may have reformed into a vigilante organisation, but either way it all sounds so dangerous and scary, and I might only meet more people who'd use the Flames for all sorts of horrible things. _

_Besides, it said whoever I'd be giving the Rings to would also be placed in danger with me, I… could never ask so much of someone._

If that was the case, why did the following words then escape from Nami's mouth?

"Alright, I'll let you train me".

* * *

><p>"A cram school" Shiori stated as she stared up at the building "You'd honestly imply that the science club president requires further education?".<p>

"What? No, this is just my house" Kotone replied "Actually, it's kinda my house and my cram school, you see it pulls double-duty as a boarding school as well".

"You know I was just joking Kotone" Shiori laughed, then her ears picked up a noise from within "Should've known; it's hoverboard-specialised, am I correct?".

"Only the best in the city!" Kotone beamed, only to hesitate for a bit and ask "Wait, is there something wrong with that?".

"No, nothing wrong at all," Shiori said "But you do have to wonder how your current hoverboarding skills could be of such a low level if you attend an entire extra school for them".

"M-my skills are perfectly fine!" Kotone said back "Are you trying to pick a fight or something? 'Cause if you are, then I'm warning you-"

Hardly turning to look, Shiori picked up a test tube and splashed its pinkish-green contents right across Kotone's face. The latter immediately began flailing around, saying things like "Ahhh get it off me get it off me don't let it poison me don't burn my face don't burn my face!".

Shiori could only laugh at the scene, before coming over and saying "Relax, that one vial had only coloured water in it. _You totally should've seen your face_".

"N-not funny, Shiori!" Kotone yelled back.

Shiori sighed, but turned her expression around when she glanced upon an opportunity. "Hmm Kotone, if it's really that much bother, I could happily clean it off your face if you'd like me to" she said as she moved closer.

Kotone just glared at her, and repeatedly swished her face with her hands trying to wipe it all off herself. It didn't seem to change Shiori's bemused expression in the slightest.

"A boarding school nevertheless, huh? How does it feel for you, living away from your parents that is?" Shiori asked.

"Oh, it's no big deal really" Kotone grinned as she responded "I've… lived away from Mum and Dad for most of my life, I guess. When they are around they're always super-nice to me, but normally they're off on some big business trip or whatever".

"Right" Shiori said. From her you'd usually expect something like 'if it ever gets lonely I could…', but she was surprisingly quiet.

Around that time there came a pretty loud noise only a few blocks down the street. Kotone and Shiori casually turned their heads around to see what it was, only to be greeted by the sight of an enormous crowd.

"More of your boyfriends?" Kotone giggled as the two of them ran to see what was with the throng of people.

"…Was that an attempt at humour?" Shiori said as she adjusted her glasses "Besides, they don't seem to be looking in our direction".

Sure enough, the whole crowd seemed to be staring upwards at three different mega-television screens, each displaying a picture of a bright green-haired girl wearing flashy pink and yellow clothes, singing and dancing around a brightly-lit stage. The words 'Hoshino Yumeka-chan, live in concert at Kaminari Stadium, Tomorrow Night Only!' flashed brightly along the bottom of the broadcast.

"Oh, Yume-chan. Hey I know her, I've got like, all of her albums and, and…" Kotone trailed aimlessly on.

"The virtual idol, eh? The actual music they write for her sounds pretty much like any generic pop act today, but the technology that embodies her is to my interest" Shiori admitted. Hearing Kotone's words, she then looked at her and said "Oh don't tell me you're the sort of girl who'll buy anything just so long as it's popular?".

"Well, er, sorta" Kotone sheepishly replied.

"I see" muttered Shiori, clearly not all that impressed "Tell me, would there be any specific genre of music you truly like to listen to?".

"Of course. Lots of hardcore rock'n'roll with a pow and a nnnrrooowww and a reow-row-row!" Kotone said as she burst into a complete air guitar frenzy.

"Ha ha, okay then, I promptly retract any accusations of typicality" Shiori laughed.

"Hmm, so what sort of music do you like Shiori?" Kotone asked, trying to continue the conversation along.

"I'm afraid you may have asked the wrong person" Shiori replied "Not really much of a music listener here, I find it often just gets in the way of my research and experiments".

"Aww, I had you pegged as a techno type of person" Kotone said.

"What, because I like science?" Shiori said in an amused tone "Although, when I think it over a little more perhaps I could go along with a more… romantic type of song. You know, for-"

"Crowding I see" a black-haired student with a cold gaze intoned as he came into view "And therefore you are intentionally disrupting the peace and quiet of Mirinamo, are you not?".

Shiori just smiled to herself as she placed in her hands inside her lab coat pockets "Why hello there, Kyoya Hibari. Fancy running into you again".

"Wait, you actually know this creepy guy?" Kotone said, her expression nowhere near as unfazed as Shiori's was.

"Oh yeah, he's my biggest follower, isn't that right hmm?" Shiori teased.

"You've been nothing but a stain on the pride of Mirinamo High, the herbivores you continuously attract around you in swarms make you almost as sickening as that girl up there" he said with a voice that possessed no hint of soul "Hmph, I'll-"

"-Bite them all to death?" Shiori finished for him, before grabbing Kotone's hand and saying "Come along now Kotone, best to just let him have his little fun".

"Huh, but what about all those people _hnuuh_-" Kotone exclaimed as she was yanked along by Shiori back off down the street.

It wasn't until they were a fair ways down the street that the scientist finally began to loosen her grip. Kotone paused to catch her breath, but later said to Shiori "Wow, how can you just talk to a person like that and stay so cool and collected?".

"I put it down to prior experience, mainly" Shiori replied, turning her gaze to Kotone and saying "Oh, but don't tell me _you_ were scared of the nasty man, now were you?".

"What? 'Course I wasn't! Jerks like him don't scare me, they just make me really mad, that's all" Kotone said as she clenched her fists towards herself. "But it was a good thing Nami wasn't with us, she gets so scared by even shadows, imagine how she would've reacted to… Oh, erm, you won't tell her I said that, would you? I don't want to seem mean to her or anything".

"Alright then. Though could you imagine how _Gokudera_ would react to him?" Shiori giggled, then said "Oh, but isn't Nami so cute when she's scared? Hmm, maybe we should arrange some sort of meeting after all".

_And I was worried about being mean, you're way worse Shiori! _Kotone thought as she sweatdropped "Hey, could you imagine if that, er, 'Hitagi' guy was really one of those new androids, I bet that'd be-"

"If I was an android I'd feel rather stereotyped by that statement" Shiori interjected. As Kotone put on her best 'hey-I-didn't-mean-to-sound-like-that' face, Shiori then closed her eyes and said "Though that does get me thinking, more specifically back to that Hoshino Yumeka".

"I wonder, Kotone, maybe it's a good thing that so many celebrity roles in our modern age are being taken by artificial intelligences. Digital circuitry could be much more suited to dealing with the pressures of fame than our own fragile human hearts. I mean, just input a few words in the matching programming language and the stress is gone, right?" Shiori mused.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be like so cool and fun to be a pop celebrity? I mean, you'd get to wear loads of cool clothes and, and you'd get to sing along and… and you could get into lots of really cool places and, and…" Kotone rambled on "Hey, what if there's a market for like, hoverboarding pop celebrities who-".

"There truly is no getting through to you is there?" Shiori deadpanned. She sighed as she sat down on a nearby bench, then lightened her mood and asked "Besides, doesn't life as a Mafiosa sound potentially glamorous enough for you?".

Kotone paused at that remark, unsure exactly to how to respond, but at last said "Do you really think Nami… will accept us as her Guardians? I mean, that letter said she should be giving those Rings to the people she trusts the most, and we haven't even known her a day really".

"If you look at things technically, it's not like she has much else" Shiori muttered "You saw how lonely she was cooped up there in that spare room, didn't you? Her parents don't seem like they're around a lot either. Plus you don't go ahead and throw yourself in front of a blast for just anyone, do you?".

"So unless a whole bunch of eager gangsters suddenly show up in the next few days, daring to prove me wrong…" Shiori continued "Well, looks like we could be it".

"Really, you think?" said Kotone, then stood up to her full height, span her hoverboard upwards and managed to catch it with her hands "In that case, I'm gonna be right by Nami, no matter what!".

"Have you been practising that trick or was it all just improv?" Shiori asked as she stood up "But yeah, count me in too".

* * *

><p>"Erm, Gokudera" Nami asked, their first training session taking place on the roof of her apartment building "Why exactly are all the training dummies dressed up in cow costumes and baseball uniforms?".<p>

"What?" Gokudera replied "You mean, they _are_? Strange, I, er, never noticed that before" he said as he began whistling and shuffling his feet.

Nami gulped, she still couldn't believe she'd actually said 'yes' to all of this. But said yes she had, so she then proceeded to trying to relight her Ring and the sword-hilts she carried. For some reason it wasn't as easy as before, back when she was at probably at her maddest.

"Come on, come on. Work, please!" she said as she tried to focus all her energy, till finally the orange flame blazed forth from her Ring and the fiery blades shot forth from her sword-hilts again. Though she hadn't seen it last time, four more of the Dying Will Flames had also appeared on her, two on either side of her forehead and one on each of her outer ankles.

"I knew you could do it, Nijuudaime!" Gokudera began, but then hesitated. "_I absolutely cannot believe that I'm teaching swordsmanship_" he snarled, but continued with "Okay, since you appear to be releasing a lot of Flame energy at the moment, let's see if you can take out this big one right in front of you".

"Er, alright" Nami said as she began to run forward, finally leaping forwards and striking the dummy with both her blades of fire, causing it to catch alight and explode.

"Oh, Nijuudaime, that was wonderful!" Gokudera said, only to admit "Well, actually it was kinda amateurish, and you only caused that much damage because I stuffed a few explosives in there. But it's the fact that you tried that counts!".

"Eh, thanks" Nami weakly replied.

"Okay, maybe we should try something different" Gokudera suggested "I know, try spinning around with your Flames to create an area-of-effect attack, that way you should be able to knock out multiple enemies at once".

Nami breathed in to ready herself, before rapidly twirling in a circle to create a whole ring of flames around her. Unfortunately she overestimated the range of the resulting flare and…

"Arrrggghhh! DON'T HIT ME!" yelled Gokudera, scampering around trying to do something about his singed self, also causing Uri to then wake up and start wildly hissing. "W-wait, Nijuudaime, please, er, forgive me for my outburst, I had no idea…".

Once Gokudera had gotten himself and Uri back together again, he said "Alright, something else that's different. See this dummy here, and how it's wearing lots of armour. Now if it were a real enemy, it's likely it would be covered in Flame-resistant armour".

"So I'd need to find a weak spot somewhere, right?" Nami came up with.

"Ah yes, you're exactly right, Nijuudaime! Fortunately, since you create your own blades using your Flames, if you hold your Dying Will back you should be able to change the shape of your blade. To beat this dummy, let's see if you can make your blades take a rapier or dagger form" Gokudera replied.

Sucking her gut in and closing her eyes, Nami strained to try and meld her Flames into more compact form. Unfortunately she strained too hard and ended up accomplishing the opposite, both her blades blasting forth and creating two nasty searing marks across the rooftops, leaving Nami to spin around in a daze.

"Okay, new idea. Maybe the problem isn't linked to how well you work with certain techniques, _maybe_ all you need is a bit more motivation" Gokudera decided on as he snuck his way into one of the dummies, waving its arms and making scary noises "Waaaah, I am a big, scary monster! I am coming to get you, waaaah!".

Though she may have been the kind of person who couldn't last five minutes into your average horror movie, the only effect Gokudera's attempt to scare her had on Nami was to make her collapse onto the ground in laughter.

But both student and teacher were at an impasse, Nami barely capable of controlling her Flames, and Gokudera no longer able to think up any more ways of teaching her to control her Flames. It was the latter who broke the current silence, but only with the same "What would Reborn-san do?" mantra he'd used before.

Gokudera then stopped, and slowly turned towards Nami, tears again were forming in his eyes. Whatever new idea he had come up with, he seemed very reluctant to go through with it.

"Nijuudaime, forgive me, but… would it be alright, if I were to ask you about the person you keep calling 'Erena'? I know, it's hard, to think back to that awful day, when-"

"Erena was my childhood friend" Nami said "She lived in the village with me, the one my parents moved to because they didn't like high technology and all. She would've been about a year younger than me, and she had black hair like mine, only hers was long and flowing. She was shy a lot of the time, so I kept having to cheer her up and rescue her from getting picked on"

"But the night our village was attacked," her words came to a halt, yet she swallowed and continued on anyway "While everyone was running for safety, they say she just vanished into the flames. Like with the attacker, they said they couldn't find any trace of her and had no idea whether she was alive or dead…"

"…And I've never heard any further word on her since" she slowly came to an end.

"Nijuudaime" Gokudera said "I'm, sorry for putting you through this again, but I think what you can recall of Erena may be the key to mastering your Dying Will, if she really is the strongest memory you have".

"No, it's alright" Nami said as she stood up again "But I won't just use my memory of Erena, I'll use… my thoughts and feelings for everyone around me, for those I won't let end up like her!".

The Flames around Nami then blazed brighter than ever before, and even her ring began glowing bright, slowly changing into a sturdier form.

"V-Vongola Gear?" Gokudera gasped "It's… finally re-awakened".

Nami then dashed forward and took out one training dummy with a single blow, shifted her blades into katana form and sliced another's head off, then into a sharp dagger-like form and pierced the sides of two armoured dummies simultaneously. In a feat of blinding speed, her flames blazed their brightest as she took all the remaining dummies on the roof.

"Alright, now we do this my way!" Gokudera yelled as he shot a whole cloud of flaming arrows into the air, as all of them began to rain down on Nami. The Vongola Ventesima however shifted both her fire blades into broadsword form, and promptly proceeded to create a wide arc with them in the air that destroyed all the arrows before they could touch her.

At last Nami was all sizzled out of Dying Will, her blades disappearing till all that was left were the hilts again. "W-what happened?" she asked as she staggered around "I feel so, so…"

"You were BRILLIANT, Nijuudaime!" Gokudera announced, jumping up and down for joy "But, you do have to remember, things aren't going to be as easy when you're up against a real-life enemy, especially if they can use the Dying Will too".

It was at that moment a dove came flying in, landing on the edge of the roof whereupon Uri leapt out and ran towards it. Instead of chasing it down as you'd expect a cat, Uri in particular, to do so to a bird, the two animals looked to be engaged in some odd form of conversation.

Uri then came back to Gokudera, whose scarlet pacifier Nami noticed was beginning to glow. After a series of nods and gestures between him and his animal partner, Gokudera then turned and said to Nami "Nijuudaime, sorry to ask an important question of you so quickly, but would you happen to have anyone in mind for the Guardian positions yet?".

"Why, what's happened?" she asked.

Gokudera beamed at her "I think the Vongola's Twentieth Generation could just have received its first real mission!".

* * *

><p>AN: If you're wondering "Wait, how come Hibari's still around without being an Arcobaleno?", oh you'll see soon enough.


End file.
